Chicago Radio Voice Stilled: Legend Wally Phillips Dies

WBBM NewsRadio 780/AP Reporting

CHICAGO -- Legendary WGN Radio broadcaster Wally Phillips has died at the age of 82.

Phillips hosted the WGN morning show from 1965 through 1986 and was considered a pioneer of the modern talk radio format.

He first began working at the station in 1956, and he retired from WGN in 1998. The radio station says Phillips had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for the last five years.

Phillips retired in 1998 after a Chicago radio career that he began in 1956. Funeral arrangements are pending.

One the air, he ruled morning drive, at times attracting a now-unheard-of half of the market's listening audience.

His lasting legacy at the station and for Chicago is the "Neediest Kids' Fund," a children's charity. The radion website has a highlights package of his broadcasts avaialable.

Former colleague Roy Leonard said "To be the guy who follows the number one man in the country, as you folks have said earlier this morning, I mean that audience was tremendous."

Phillips is survived by his wife and two children. Phillips was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1993.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

•From the Radio Hall of Fame Website:

One of Chicago’s most popular radio personalities of all time, Wally Phillips got into broadcasting on a lark. A “man on the street” tape, done as a drama school assignment led to his first job as a radio announcer on a small station in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Phillips was born on July 7, 1925, in Portsmouth, Ohio. By 1950 was working for WCPO/Cincinnati, where he entertained listeners with his humor and zany stunts.

In 1956, Ward Quaal brought Phillips to WGN/Chicago, where he continued to amuse and entertain listeners with spontaneous pranks. Wally’s playful nature was perhaps best evidenced by his use of sound effects, commercial clips and movie soundtracks, which he crafted together for comedic effect. He was among the first in the industry to use what has become a radio broadcast standard

Phillips did more than make Chicago laugh. He was there when tragedy struck as well, using his incredible sources to bring the latest news and analysis of important issues to his vast audience. Phillips reigned supreme and was Chicago’s most popular personality for more than 20 years—winning every single ratings book.

After ending his incredible WGN career on January 25, 1998, Phillips retired briefly, but returned to host a Saturday morning program on WAIT/Chicago.

Wally Phillips was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1993

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